The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering an updated web-based training series on the assessment and coding of Section GG. This training is intended for providers in post-acute care (PAC) settings including Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs). It is designed to be used on demand anywhere you can access a browser.

Last week, CMS released a revised S&C: 17-15-LSC Use of the Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) memo. The revised memo grants a two-year extension to a specific group of existing Time Limited Waivers (TLW). This benefits providers who have historically utilized a Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) to show equivalent compliance with the Life Safety Code®, and to meet fire safety requirements for certification with Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Orientation sessions for the MassMAP will be held on Wednesday November 3, 2021, 10:00 – 11:30 AM or Thursday November 4, 2021, 1:00 – 2:30 PM. The orientation sessions are for new MassMAP members as well as staff who are not familiar with the MassMAP and/or the MassMAP website. In addition, anyone having difficulty completing emergency reporting during MassMAP activations should attend. Choose on session to attend:

The deadline for the Intent to Apply for the 2022 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program is November 11th! AHCA/NCAL encourages applicants who plan to apply for a Quality Award to submit an intent to apply by logging into the Quality Award Portal before the deadline on November 11, 2021. Applying for a National Quality Award provides a framework that can be used to prepare for and make critical improvements and serves as a team building activity to engage staff across all levels.

Based on their experience in the recent Mass Senior Care/HebrewSenior Life AHRQ ECHO National Nursing Home COVID-19 Action Network Training Center project, several facilitators collaborated on an article, Building community and resilience in Massachusetts nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Massachusetts Senior Care Association is pleased to be co-sponsoring JVS Boston’s quarterly Economic Opportunity Forum scheduled for Monday, November 8th from 12-1pm, the focus of the program will be Job Quality: An Equitable and Smart Strategy for Employers in This Tight Labor Market. Registration for the forum is FREE, followed by a 10-Day Job Quality Challenge.

The House of Representatives is continuing to debate amendments to H.4219, An Act Relative to Immediate COVID-19 Recovery Needs, utilizing funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the FY 2021 budget surplus. The House is expected to take action on the bill this week. Mass Senior Care need the continued support of the nursing facility community to contact their State Representatives to co-sponsor the two important nursing facility amendments, #203 and #845.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is updating its BinaxNOW test kit guidance for long-term care facilities, and this week the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released updated COVID-19 vaccination guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing questions about religious objections to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and how they interact with federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws.

DPH recently sent to facilities fine notices related to unvaccinated staff, and MassHealth today sent to nursing facilities the PASRR materials from their training session on the updated PASRR process that goes into effect on Friday, October 29.

Today DPH sent to facilities fine notices related to unvaccinated staff.